The Horror!!!

[garterman07]

my wicked parents had their friends over, who in turn braught their little demon seeded monsters of children who are no longer allowed over to our house, for the simple reason they went in my room when told not too and tried to get rico out of his 20 gallon long and knocked it over and shattered the tank!!! completely shattered nothing left!!! i was at a friends house when this happend and now poor rico is out of a large cage for about a month or two!!! i want to know how would you recomend i best house him on a low budget. right now i have him a clear box thats about the size of a 10 gallon high... i am so lost for ideas, i don't know what to do. but i know one thing the parents of those little monsters should pay for it but my parents won't make them because "its not tom and shary's fault that their kids did that." what should i do

[KITKAT]

You might shop for a "blanket box". These are made of plastic, are about as big as a 20 or a 29 gallon aquarium, are unbreakable... and the downside is that you will have to figure out how to make a top for it that is ventilated enough.


my wicked parents had their friends over, who in turn braught their little demon seeded monsters of children who are no longer allowed over to our house, for the simple reason they went in my room when told not too and tried to get rico out of his 20 gallon long and knocked it over and shattered the tank!!! completely shattered nothing left!!! i was at a friends house when this happend and now poor rico is out of a large cage for about a month or two!!! i want to know how would you recomend i best house him on a low budget. right now i have him a clear box thats about the size of a 10 gallon high... i am so lost for ideas, i don't know what to do. but i know one thing the parents of those little monsters should pay for it but my parents won't make them because "its not tom and shary's fault that their kids did that." what should i do

[FitnessFreak]

my wicked parents had their friends over, who in turn braught their little demon seeded monsters of children who are no longer allowed over to our house, for the simple reason they went in my room when told not too and tried to get rico out of his 20 gallon long and knocked it over and shattered the tank!!! completely shattered nothing left!!! i was at a friends house when this happend and now poor rico is out of a large cage for about a month or two!!! i want to know how would you recomend i best house him on a low budget. right now i have him a clear box thats about the size of a 10 gallon high... i am so lost for ideas, i don't know what to do. but i know one thing the parents of those little monsters should pay for it but my parents won't make them because "its not tom and shary's fault that their kids did that." what should i do

wow that sucks!

i agree with you, the parents of the kids who knocked it voer and broke it should be more than happy to pay for it!

i would be so emberessed if i had kids and they did that to a friends house, i would be offering to pay for a new 1!

[garterman07]

blanket box...i think that might actually work, and if i drill small holes in the top of the lid i could ventalate it =) thanks for the idea, i think wal mart might have those

[KITKAT]

blanket box...i think that might actually work, and if i drill small holes in the top of the lid i could ventalate it =) thanks for the idea, i think wal mart might have those

Yes, they should.

I once had crickets in a blanket box. I cut a hole in the top and tried to hot glue a piece of screen over the hole. It was a miserable failure!

I would suggest LOTS of small holes, on both ends and the top. Use a hot nail held in a pair of needle nose pliers.

[Odie]

Kill the kids :eek: LOL :D

[abcat1993]

Man, I feel your pain. Just one of the reasons why I hate little kids, and adults who argue that they should pay for something not the other person. They sell 10 gallon tanks at Petco and Petsmart for about $10.

[Thamnophis]

Don´t hate kids. You were one yourself once.
Blame parents who refuse to raise them with respect for other people and their properties.
I cannot believe the reaction of your parents.

[Stefan-A]

I "hate" kids. Oh sure, they have their good moments, some (most) are ok. But I feel about as comfortable around them, as, say, a flock of baboons. Well, ok, they don't have the fangs, but they are as predictable and far more destructive. Plus, they are protected by adults. This is how I felt when I was a kid myself, couldn't stand those little sociopaths.




;)

It's questionable to blame the parents as well. They can't be watching their kids every single moment and kids are still learning. You might think the kids already know what they can and can't do, and most of the time you're right. They just ignore it.

[Cazador]

Hey Chris,

Here's an idea for you to consider. I cut the large holes in the lid with a jigsaw and then drilled smaller holes around the larger holes to "sew" the screen to the plastic lid. As you see, I heat it from above.

Rick

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/DSC06792.JPG

[drache]

I am so sorry - what a total bummer
I've got problems with kids too - and their parents
I believe the parents had to have offered to pay
not that I stand 100% behind every thing my daughter does, but I'm still responsible for her actions
probably your parents wanted to be nice and told them they didn't need to
I also believe that the average kid has no sense whatsoever and a parent that lets a child go into someone else's room without supervision is irresponsible and lazy
my daughter is immensely creative when in comes to trying out things
two kids - they can come up with a lot of destruction

Rick
that set-up is very cooi
it's kinda hard to see from the pic
- is that regular metal screening material?

[Ameivaboy]

the kids parents are responsible for it, and if your parents dont want to let them pay for a new cage then tell you parents to pay for it since they dont want their freinds to take responsibility then your parents should as the kids should have never been in your room in the first place, along with the new cage your parents should buy you a nice lock for your door would be good too. Did the little snots at least have to clean up the mess?

[drache]

I have to agree
having children is such a great responsibility precisely because it makes one responsible for things that are "not one's fault"
although I would argue that unsupervised children are the fault here

nevertheless
it's probably pointless to cry over spilled glass
it might be worthwhile to see whether your parents will help with a new tank
but you absolutely have to wait until you're no longer angry, or likely to get angry, before you approach them
pretend they did everything right and this was just an unfortunate accident and would they be so nice . . .

[Stefan-A]

Paying is something you just do when you break something, plain and simple. But the real pain in the arse is finding and buying a replacement and simply getting compensation for the destroyed object is hardly enough.

[krystalirelan@southslope.]

I agree you watch your kids 100% of the time. you need to teach them resect for others and thier possesions, however, I would never go to a friends house and just let my kids have at the place. Did the kids or parents even feel bad? Did they appoligize?

[drache]

heck
they should be real happy their kids didn't get all cut up or speared by a piece of glass, in their lovely little adventure
I'd consider paying for the tank an educational expense - parent ed is what I'm talking about

[adamanteus]

Some parents just don't teach their children respect. Mind you, I'm something of a disciplinarian myself, I'm a bit "old-fashioned" in that regard. Good idea with the sewn in ventilation, Rick!

[CrazyHedgehog]

I am looking for a british 'boot camp' to send my son to....

[garterman07]

speaking of boot camp in 6 months i am heading there =) i signed up for the military, and in 6 months i have basic training, kinda affraid they're going to teach me "respect" the military way.

[adamanteus]

speaking of boot camp in 6 months i am heading there =) i signed up for the military, and in 6 months i have basic training, kinda affraid they're going to teach me "respect" the military way.

I'm sure they will. Good luck!

[ssssnakeluvr]

good luck!! have fun!! what branch did you sign up for?? I spent 6 1/2 years in the army...got to travel (went to Korea for a year and Germany for 2). Lots of fun!!

[drache]

what's gonna happen to Rico when you go?

[garterman07]

i'm signed up for the marines =) kinda nervous about going through a tour but, i think its worth it.

[ssssnakeluvr]

marines eh?? cool! Tough basic tho!! probably the toughest of the military branches. good luck and have fun!!!!! I really enjoyed my time in the army.

[Cazador]

Rick
that set-up is very cool
it's kinda hard to see from the pic
- is that regular metal screening material?


Yes. It's regular metal screen (~1/4" mesh). The enclosure is roughly 15" tall (guestimate), so they can't get much force if they rub against the screen. I've never had any raw snouts, but the plastic coated mesh is probably much more conservative.

Rick

[Stefan-A]

speaking of boot camp in 6 months i am heading there =) i signed up for the military, and in 6 months i have basic training, kinda affraid they're going to teach me "respect" the military way.
Good luck. :)

Like 80% of the Finnish male population, I've been in the military. But there's not much the organizations have in common, our training methods and goals are completely different (the push-up aren't though ;) ).

Anyway, it's going to be an adventure you'll never forget. :)

[Odie]

Marine Corps cool I spent some time doing that and I really enjoyed my time in the Core. Get San Diego for basic if you can. Marine Core is the toughest of the military branches. Square away that footlocker, suck in that gut, to slow get back and your going to keeping doing it till I get tired. LOL Good luck and have fun. Simper fi :cool:

[sschind]

I can understand your parents not wanting to make their friends pay, but I can't understand their friends not offering to cough up the dough. I agree that they can't watch their kids every second but the fact is their kid broke someone else's property. The ONLY decent thing to do is to offer to pay for it. Then again, are you sure they didn't offer to pay for it and your parents told them they didn't have to.

As far as kids go, for the most part I like them. Undisciplined kids really irritate me but when you are dealing with little kids 5 or 6 years old or younger you have to realize that they are going to try to do anything they can get away with. If they are running around, acting like brats, being obnoxious etc. It's because there parents never taught them how to behave. I don't blame the kids.

I had a woman come into my store about a year ago with her little hellion. She spent her entire time in the store talking on her damn cell phone and completely ignored her kid (he was about 4 years old) I told him several times not to go in the back room, not to pound on the glass (not tap mind you but literally pounding on the glass) not to run in the store and to please stop screaming at the top of his lungs every time he went past the tarantula section.

After about 10 minutes she came up to the counter and put down a $2.50 can of fish food. She looked at me and said "you don't like kids much do you" I looked her straight in the eye and said "it's not the KIDS I have a problem with" She got this all offended look on her face, grabbed little Damian's (or maybe it was Lucifer's) arm and walked out. It was the best $2.50 sale I never made.

[drache]

I cannot figure out how to get this picture out of my email onto this thread, but a friend sent me this with the heading "Best Store Sign Ever"
It's a lovely sign - hand-lettered with a beautiful flower drawing
And it reads:

UNATTENDED CHILDREN WILL BE GIVEN AN ESPRESSO AND A FREE PUPPY

although in the case of a pet shop you might be better off just threatening with a triple espresso

[Stefan-A]

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/131550967_19e848da4a.jpg

[drache]

that's the one
very sweet